by Natalia Zinets and Max Hunder
KYIV, June 12 (Reuters) – Russian forces blew up a bridge linking Sievierodonetsk, scene of fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine, to the twin city of Lysychansk, cutting off a possible escape route for civilians, reports Ukrainian local authorities on Sunday.
Sievierodonetsk has become the epicenter of the battle for control of the eastern Donbass region, consisting of the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk. The city was partially destroyed by clashes, the most violent since Moscow launched its invasion of the country on February 24.
Luhansk provincial governor Serhiy Gaidai said on Sunday that Ukrainian and Russian forces were still clashing in Sievierodonetsk street battles.
He added that Russian forces had taken most of the town but Ukrainian troops still controlled an industrial area and a chemical plant where hundreds of civilians had taken refuge.
But the Russians destroyed a bridge spanning the Donets between Sievierodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, said Serhiy Gaidai.
There is now only one bridge still standing, of the three that connected the two towns before the war, reducing the number of routes that could be used to evacuate civilians or allow Ukrainian forces to retreat to the shore. west of the Don tributary.
In Lysytchansk, a woman was killed and four houses and a shopping center were destroyed by Russian shelling, according to Gaidai.
Sievierodonetsk’s administration chief, Oleksandr Stryuk, told Ukrainian television that just over a third of his city remained in the hands of Kyiv forces.
MOSCOW SAYS HAS DESTROYED ARMS DPT
After having had to revise the initial objectives of its “special operation” in Ukraine, such as the capture of Kyiv, Moscow is now focusing on the Donbass, where pro-Russian separatists have held part of the territory since 2014.
But the Russian army also struck in western Ukraine, according to the Interfax agency, firing cruise missiles to destroy a large depot containing American and European weapons in the Ternopil region.
The governor of the Ternopil region said for his part that an attack by rockets fired from the Black Sea on the city of Tchortkiv had partly destroyed a military installation, injuring 22 people. A local official assured that no weapon was stored there.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned in early June that Moscow would hit new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile systems.
Ukrainian leaders have renewed their calls for Western countries in recent days to speed up deliveries of heavy weapons as Russian forces pound the east of the country with artillery.
To the south and south-west of Sievierodonetsk, the Russian forces continue to fire mortars and artillery, indicated in a daily report to the Ukrainian general staff, according to which Russian advance attempts have however been repelled. .
The US-based Institute for the Study of War says Ukrainian forces have put up stronger resistance than expected but are drawing down their last stockpiles of weapons and ammunition dating back to the Soviet era. and will need constant support from the West. (With Pavel Polityuk and Reuters editorial staff, French version Benjamin Mallet and Jean-Stphane Brosse)